Please pardon the dust as the Traditium, the personal blog site of Traditius, is renovated and updated. The Traditian Order was formed and expanded its responsibilities faster than its membership was able to support, leaving a lot done by a few and many people who just want to be members of an organization with many who think like they do. The Traditian Order will continue to be the latter, but many of its former activities and resources (the herb pages etc) will soon be relocated to Traditius’ blog page, Traditium.

“I saw the torments of hell and those of purgatory; no words can describe them. Had poor mortals the faintest idea of them, they would suffer a thousand deaths rather than undergo the least of their torments during a single day.”

— St. Catherine of Siena

Modernism is the coming together of many heresies, but if you look carefully you will see that they all share a disbelief in, or disdain of, the supernatural. The supernatural, of course, is the belief in angels and devils, heaven and hell, sin and salvation. It is composed of that which is above the natural, that which we can feel only with the soul, and know only through the highest of reason.

Many moderns believe these unseen matters to be foolishness, ignorance, and in so doing they distance themselves from them, endangering their soul for the sake of honor and pride, for the satisfaction of thinking they are the highest authority over their own lives.

Looking at these latest scandals in the Church is to see this principle in action. If someone believed in heaven and hell, sin and salvation, would they commit these awful sins for years? Would they do so without remorse, without removing themselves from occasions of sin, without recognizing that they are on the path to Hell? It is hard to believe, but the fact is that once you cut yourself off from supernatural truth, you are simply an unprotected soul behind enemy lines.

Tonight the Traditian Order begins its series of resource-based articles supporting those wishing to learn the Rosary prayers in the language of the Church with the Apostles Creed.

The Apostles Creed / Symbolum Apostolorum

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ,His only SonOur Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell;
the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven,and sitteth at the right hand of God,the Father almighty;
He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy Catholic Church,
the Communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the bodyand life everlasting.

Medieval Horticulture, Part 2: In The Garden of Charlemagne A sequel to: Medieval Horticulture, Part 1: Monastic Herbalism

In 476 A.D. the Emperor Romulus Augustus was overthrown by the germanic hordes and any order that the Roman Empire had brought to Europe for centuries was finished. The fall of Rome in the west would cast the former territories of the Empire into centuries of ignorance and squalor, we are told, particularly the areas farthest from it. This is the accepted history, and it is an enormous oversimplification.

“Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne” by Friedrich Kaulbach, 1861

Just a few decades later, after all, one of the germanic tribes, the Franks, were unified under one king, named Clovis I. Unlike the other tribes, which were mainly Arian, the Franks were Catholic due to Clovis’ wife insistence and his conversion on Christmas Day in 508 A.D.. The germanic tribes would continue their chaotic rule over much of the former Empire in the west, for a time, but in 768 A.D. a man named Charles rose to lead the Franks and re-establish order. Charles would go on to conquer the other tribes, and became Holy Roman Emperor. Even during his life he was referred to as “Charles the Great” which translates in French, of course, to Charlemagne.

The events in Ireland this week have been much discussed. While there are a thousand perspectives on it, though, one truth cannot be denied: Abortion is an unnatural act. That is to say, it is literally an act against creation, and writ large it exposes a terrible failure of humanity itself. We have so distanced ourselves from the nature of God that we, collectively, think we can deny it, blind ourselves to it, overrule it. But we cannot, and the evidence of that fact is everywhere, if we care to look for it.

Put ye on the armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore take on the armor of God, that ye may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:11-17

The passage above, from The Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, seems on the surface to be comparing, in metaphor, aspects of the Christian faith to the various pieces of armor a warrior might wear. Each item protecting or arming the faithful in the way that a breastplate or sword might. As metaphor, and as spiritual truth, it is powerful. However, it also speaks to a later tradition.